Diamonds and Spades
by Riverhaze
Summary: It's been four years. Four years since Harley has returned to sanity, but her return to Gotham will not go unnoticed no matter who she claims to be. Rated T for themes/language
1. Chapter 1

A young intern sat in the reception area of the rehab center. She was flipping aimlessly through a magazine, her elbow stationed on the counter and her head resting on her raised hand. She looked up warily to the hallway to the side, seeing the outline of one of the guards. Outside, more were prowling the grounds, this place was probably more secure than any prison at the moment.

She chewed her gum nervously and blew a bubble, popping it with her teeth. She hadn't been here when they brought her in, but she had been curious to catch a glimpse of their latest patient, who had been brought in from Gotham. They said she worked for _him, _and a chill went down the intern's spine at the mere thought. Granted it had been a month since they rounded up the psychotic clown, it was only a matter of time before he was loose again, the news wouldn't stop advertising it in every source of media.

'It's a mad, mad world.' The Intern shook her head and flipped the page of her magazine.

Inside the padded cell, past the numerous guards, a woman in her mid twenties was curled up in a ball in the corner, her limbs restrained by a straitjacket. Her natural blond hair was damp around her small face, dirt and grime rubbed into the once beautiful locks. She was currently sleeping, occasionally muttering to her self incoherent words. A loud buzzer sounded within the room and the iron padlocked door opened, a middle aged woman stood looking down at the sleeping patient, donned in a doctor's coat. The Doctor stepped into the room, a Guard stood stationary at the entrance as the doctor slowly crouched beside the restrained woman.

"Harleen dear-?" The doctor said softly, and placed a hand on the woman. She jerked awake, screaming and thrashing around, trying to rip herself free from her restraints. "Wait." The Doctor held a hand up to the advancing guard and he did. Slowly, the blond calmed down, her wide blue eyes taking in her room and those within it.

"Where...am I?" She said heavily.

"You're safe here Harleen. We merely restrained you for your own protection at the moment until your violent thrashing calms down. Do you remember what happened?" The Doctor asked.

"You didn't answer my question." Harleen frowned.

"Oh, I am sorry. You are in a medical center in a different city. You requested it in fact. Do you remember?" The Doctor asked in a soothing voice.

"Yes." Harleen answered, and she automatically tried to block out the events that transpired.

"That's good. We will not delve into them further. My name is Dr. Maddox. I'll be your psychologist. I hear you were once the brightest psychology student in Gotham." Dr. Maddox smiled lightly. Harley nodded, not looking at the doctor, but at her guards. She almost shed a tear over her once bright future, fresh out of the university with the world in her hands. But that was a long time ago in her book. "Would you like to sleep more, I'm afraid we'll have to keep you restrained at the moment, I can't prescribe drugs, because I'm not a psychiatrist, plus I see them as unnecessary, so you'll just have to endure." Dr. Maddox straightened up, and the blonde nodded, staring at her shoes.

The others vacated the small space and the door was closed with a loud bang, leaving the woman known as Harley Quinn all alone with her thoughts, and the actions that led her to where she was now. Had she done the right thing? Would he come looking for her once he was released? No, others would probably tell him she was dead.

'Well, I might as well be, I swear, I'm not that person anymore.' She thought determinedly.

Dr. Maddox made her way to an office, and old weathered man sat behind an elaborately carved desk, reading through a thick book.

"Dr. Orion, I talked with our newest patient just now. She's capable of intelligent conversation, and I think her memory is starting to come back. She wakes up screaming still, though." She informed her superior.

"Do you sincerely think that she can be cured? Reasons I have stated before?" He asked.

"Yes, anyone can be cured as long as they are willing, and I believe she is without his influence." She nodded deeply.

"Then you have a mighty task ahead of you." Dr. Orion's eyes twinkled and he dismissed her then. Dr. Maddox made her way to her own office, and set to picking out books to reference from. She had taken on the impossible, her superior informed her when she stepped forward to guide the once twisted jester. No one else wanted to touch the girl, even their best and most seasoned doctors were afraid to look at her. She just believed it was because of the stigma that was attached to her and her affiliates. The Joker was thousands of miles away, locked away in his own cell. They had released a story that Harley Quinn had died in the confrontation that left him incarcerated, so when and if he found a way out (it was common knowledge that Harley was the one behind his frequent escapes), there would be no reason for him to find her. And if he did, Harley wouldn't even be recognizable, Dr. Maddox was going to be sure of that.

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><p><strong>Diamonds and Spades<strong>

**by lolasbunnyroo**

**One**

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><p>An alarm blared somewhere deep within the small loft. A woman with long blond hair chaotically sprang up, turning the alarm off and like a tornado, she tore through her possessions, getting dressed and applying her makeup.<p>

"See ya Patchy!" She patted her pet cat on the head and made her way outside. The City was awakening, people groggily shuffled by her, hunched over precious cups of coffee, glaring at her for having the audacity to be so energetic in the morning. The morning chill was virtually nonexistent today, and Ems was glad she got to wear her new pair of shorts today. She made her way to the theatre district, arriving at her destination and entering through a door that was off limits to anyone who wasn't working there.

She hung up her bag at a coat rack, and made her way toward a large open room. Dancers were stretching in front of a window of mirrors, the choreographer observing their forms. Singers were practicing their acapella in another corner, while a few actors were going over a scene.

"Hey Ems, Bruer wants to talk to you." One of Ems friends informed her.

"This early in the morning? Okay." She made her way to Bruer's office, he was the director of their company. Unlike most, he hired untraditional dancers and singers, as long as you had talent you were welcome. Many questioned when he hired Ems, because she was in her late twenty's, practically ancient by some standards to play a lead role in a production. She knocked on the door to his office, and a scruffy voice replied to come in.

"Lauren said you wanted to talk to me?" She asked. A small old man was pacing about a heavily cluttered room and looked up as she entered.

"Yes, take a seat." He said. Ems became nervous, was she about to be fired? She went back through what she had done in the past forty eight hours, and nothing came to mind. She sat down hesitantly in a bean bag chair, whooshing back uncomfortably.

"As you know, we have brought our adaptation of the play to all of the major cities in the US. Except for one. The Company is getting restless and wants to go, and the city wants to bring us there as well. They are offering a large sum in donations if we do. But, I will take your feelings into consideration. If you are uncomfortable with it, we can have your understudy fill in." He said. Ems was taken off guard for a moment, it took a while for her to register what he had said. Bruer, along with her psychologist, was one of the very few that knew of her past life, as the psychotic Harley Quinn. Four years, four long years had passed since then. Through her therapy, she got interested in gymnastics again, but she was to old to become a professional competitor so she got into dancing, and from there acting. She had always been a good actor.

"To, Gotham...?" She said with wide eyes. Bruer watched her, the idea did not enthrall him either.

"I know, you have done so well, become a productive member of society, made great progress." He nodded, mostly to assure himself. Ems thought this over, she knew she would let everyone down if she didn't go, they all meshed together perfectly through their countless performances, and plus they needed the money as well.

"No, it's my role. No one else can play it." She said, it sounded very egotistical, but Bruer had to agree, he couldn't picture any one else filling in for her, no matter how well rehearsed her understudy was. "I'm going." She said with finality, and he nodded. It was going to be a nightmare to try and clear it with her psychologist, Dr. Maddox. Ems was dismissed after a short chat and made her way back to the practice room, they didn't have much to do today, it was more of a social gathering than an actual rehearsal.

She sat and watched the dancers rehearse for a while, cringing as she watched one girl pull of a complicated move that must be torture on the ankles. In her funk, she allowed her mind to wander. Back to that day.

It had been raining, hard and she had lost her hat. Her blonde hair was thickly plastered to her face, white and black ran down her face as she glimpsed her reflection in a puddle that was slowly running a russet red. She saw her wild blue eyes, and slowly everything was starting to come into focus. As if she had taken her sanity, attached it to a kite and let it drift behind her, a satellite that was crashing back to earth. She heard laughter bouncing off the walls and ceiling, and it sent a chill down her spine. Her tears mixed in with the rain and blinding lights were shown in her face, and the next thing she knew she was shivering in a damp cell, looking at the broken pieces of her life.

'_Please...don't send me to that place, I don't...want to be there...with him.' _She whimpered out from some corner of her mind, so they sent her out of the city, some where else. Away from his influence, she began to surface. His pull was still there, it always would be. It had been stronger in the beginning, but now it was just a tiny flicker of a thought.

"Hey, Ems." A deep voice said. The former Harley Quinn was always slow to respond to her new identity, and she looked up slowly.

"Oh, hi Gabe." She smiled. Gabe was a tall man, a few years her junior. He was the male lead in the current play, and her opposite. He was to tall to be hired in a regular company, so he found his way here. She had to kiss him a few times in the play, and it had been awkward at first, but a show was a show.

"Excited to go to Gotham? Bruer just broke the news." He said.

"Yeah, maybe we'll see Batman." She chuckled, mostly to herself. A little inside joke of her own, as she was once the Dark Knight's adversaries.

"Ya think-?" Gabe gaped at her. She had to suppress a sigh, even though Gabe wasn't hard on the eyes, he tended to be extremely slow. Bruer broke the news to the troupe then, and everyone celebrated, a few looked nervous, asking about the crime rates in the city and what not. Harley kept her distance, unsure if it was wise to return to Gotham. She hadn't done much to change her look, other than grow her hair out and wear contacts that changed her blue eyes to a deep green, then again not many had known what she really looked like without her disguise on, or talking like an obnoxious mall rat.

Dr. Maddox was surprisingly complacent with Harley venturing to her home city, saying it would be good exposure for her. A few days later, the company packed their bags, meet at the train station, and took their seats. She watched as the familiar city she had been accustomed to flashed by, and the country side gradually took over. Others were slumped over asleep in their passage, but she wanted to be awake to see her old home. Truth was, she probably couldn't sleep if she wanted to.

Green hills started to ween out, houses began to congregate together, becoming closer and closer together, until the train wheezed to a stop at a large modern train station. Strange, she didn't remember it being there when she had lived in the city. But, she had been more focused on other things rather than the landmarks. Excitement rose inside and she couldn't help but grin like an idiot as she stepped out of the train. The mayor was there to greet them along with a horde of press hounds, it must be voting season. Harley could have sworn his eyes lingered on her longer than the others as she was introduced by a beaming Bruer. After pictures, a short interview, and more pictures, she was finally allowed to go to her hotel room.

"Ugh." She sighed heavily in her taxi cab, jammed inside with two of her friends, Violet and May.

"I'm just saying, if I get stabbed while walking down the street, I'm going to totally sue some one." May rattled off, she was paranoid about the grungy city, convinced everyone was a crack dealer.

"Oh be quiet May, it's just like any other city." Harley harped.

"Yeah, but with superhero's." She mumbled as Violet pointed out various landmarks she had read in a pamphlet on the train ride to the city. Their hotel wasn't exactly cheap, but it wasn't a palace either. Harley had a room to herself that was a joined to another room occupied by several dancers and singers, whom were currently blaring vague pop music. She tossed her bags onto her bed and saw that there was something on her dresser. It was a pot of flowers, red and black roses. She just stared at the roses as her heart raced. She tore through them searching for a card, but there was none. She couldn't stand the sight of them, dumping the water down her bathroom sink, and tossed the flowers in the trash can, her paranoia rising. She automatically started her breathing exercise, and she became calm soon enough.

'I'm going to loose my head here.' She thought as she looked out of the window at the familiar sky line.

_Line Break_

Harley fought her way into the pair of black skinny jeans, she jiggled about and knocked over the coat rack.

"We have five minutes!" A stage hand pounded on the door to her small dressing room.

"Almost done!" Harley wheezed, cursing who ever invented the skin tight jeans and why her character had to wear them. All she had to say, was thank god for spanx. She checked her hair and make up, unaffected by her pants wrestling, so she nodded and left, entering the chaotic scene that was the back stage.

Stage hands were taking their positions, the stage director was practically pulling his hair out. Singers were all doing vocal exercises and the dancers were doing some odd pre-show yoga.

"There you are!" A crew hand towed her to her spot behind the curtains, as when the play opened, her character alone waltzed out onto the stage. She took her rehearsed spot, and for the first time felt like throwing up. 'It's just a week, just a week and then we'll be back home. We're going to be on break, so I can catch up on my Soap's.' She thought calmly, breathing in and out deeply. She peeked at Bruer, who was spying from behind a curtain, no doubt scouting out the first row for potential investors.

"Ten seconds!" The Stage Director shouted above the chaos, and the orchestra could be heard beginning to play, the volume lowered greatly then, and her ears throbbed from the dramatic change. The curtains began to pull back slowly, and she began her advance, but to Harley it felt like a death march. 'You've done this a thousand times, you can do this.' She said determinedly. She arrived onto the stage, the audience a mass of black, she silently cleared her throat to deliver her line.

There was a deafening roar of the crowd, clapping, whistling, and hooting with joy as the stage slowly faded to black. Harley was frozen in the blackness, as her character had bleed to death and then suspended above the other characters by her hands. It was her least favorite part of the play, pretending to die.

"Get down dork." Gabe teased, and she winced, the pressure of his lips when they had to kiss still on hers. She released her grip on the line and jumped down silently, wobbling a little in her heels. She took her spot in line next to the other actors, singers, and dancers as they made their way onto stage. The lights returned and revealed them, and the cheering increased as one by one, a main actors would step forward to bow. When Harley stepped forward the cheering seemed to increase in volumes, and she smiled widely like an idiot, bowing theatrically and deeply. Bruer made his way onto the stage and she stepped back to clap as he took his own bow, tears welled up in her eyes and she had to blink them back. She got this way after every opening.

Harley went back to her dressing room to remove her close, the fake blood already beginning to fade as she changed into a black dress. One thing she hated was having to say hi to all of the rich folks that went to their productions. She knew it was important to Bruer but it still annoyed the hell out of her. She took Gabe's escort as she left the stage to the main lobby. People still clapped as she entered and she put on a fake smile, being introduced to the rich idiots who raved about her and Gabe's performances. Bruer steered her around, and she was finally able to leave almost an hour later.

"Hey, Ems! We're going out, wanna come?" A few other actors and dancers approached her, all wound together.

"Nah, you go ahead. I'm going to retire early." She resisted. They insisted a few more times, but it was clear to them she just wanted to change into an over-sized t-shirt and curl up with a good book. The taxi drive to her hotel was short, a fruit basket was awaiting her and a few pot of flowers as well. She changed quickly, munching on a few slices of fruit as she did so. She let her blonde hair down and yawned widely, turning off her TV that was relaying news events. Her book was still packed away, and she sat frozen on her bed, contemplating if it was worth it to get it out. She gave up, rolled into her blanket and clocked out instantly.

_"Why didn't you come for me?" A sweetly familiar voice cooed._

_"I couldn't. They sent me away." She pleaded, and covered her face withe her hands, shielding her self from his fury._

_"You LIE!" In a flip of a switch, his rage was palpable and his hand swung._

"NOOO-!" Harley screamed, and thrashed about, tangled in her covers. She lurched awake, sitting upward and breathing heavily. A thick coat of sweat dripped down her face, and she rubbed her eyes. The clock declared that it was close to three in the morning. "Just a dream...just a dream." She said to comfort her self. She groped through the darkness to find her blankets that she had kicked away in her confusion. Her slim fingers closed around a piece of paper, and she turned on her bed side lamp and gasped.

It was a playing card, and not just any one. It was the Joker.

_Line Break_

She searched her entire room, but no one was there, and not a sign of a single intruder. She looked outside into the night, and closed her eyes, remembering a time when she was chasing some one or being chased across the skyline. She was clutching the card and held it up, examining it, and in one motion, she ripped it in half and continued until it was just a small pile of paper shreds in her palm. Harley opened the window and held out her hands, the wind was soft as it carried the pieces away. It was almost impossible to fall back asleep, but Harleen Quinzel was no stranger to the impossible.

"So, how are you coping in Gotham so far?" Dr. Maddox's face peered back at her from the computer, a tiny webcam showed the doctor Harley's image back. It was the next day, and Harley sat in the theatre in one of the seats on her laptop. Several actors and singers were practicing one scene Bruer did not feel they had done so well. Harley thought they had been amazing, they always put in a little extra effort on opening nights.

"Pretty good actually, I didn't go out yesterday though, I was to tired." She shifted in her seat, unsure if she should inform her doctor of her dream or the mysterious playing card. That would just raise questions and she'd be whisked back home, and she could picture the disappointed faces in her fellow company members. "Err, but I had a strange dream." She said sheepishly.

"How so?" Her doctor queried. Harley summarized her dream, but left out the appearance of the symbolic card. "That is understandable, being in the city would raise some old fears of yours." Dr. Maddox mused. Harley thought this over, remembering some of what she learned herself as a psychology student. Their session ended a few minutes later and she browsed the web a while, reading the reviews of their performance.

"Ems, get up here!" Bruer's voice brought her back to the present. He had to repeat her name a few times, as she was still slow to respond to it. A few others snickered as she made her way up, thinking she was slow because of it.

Bruer made her run through a few pretty emotional scenes before he was satisfied that she was convincible at crying on the flip of a switch. She didn't exactly want to go back to her room, so she decided the get a bite to eat with a few other friends before they would have to return to the theatre and begin to get ready for their next performance.

"Where's a cafe at?" Violet squinted at a map and may nervously shuffled on her feet. Harley itched to tell them, but she was supposed to have never set foot in the city until now.

"Ha! Google found one." Gabe held his smart phone up in triumph and Violet bowed her head in defeat. They made their way to the cafe Gabe found, it was crowded with Hipsters who recognized them, it was as if Harley's group were the messiah, the way the Hipsters immediately cleared a table for them. She noticed as their lunch progressed, Gabe's arm found it's way to rest on the back of her chair. He was talking absentmindedly with May. Harley's eyes darted to him under her lashes as she played with her sandwich. Violet was watching the two with an odd look, and Harley sighed: 'What is this high school?'

"Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom." Harley cleared her throat and made her way through the small cafe to the lady's room. In all honesty she just did it to get out of the uncomfortable situation, but she found when she set foot in the tiled room she really had to pee. After doing her business, she set to washing her hands, using an old method of singing the ABC's while doing so. The door opened when she hit J, and a woman with short black hair stepped in.

"Oh, it's you." The woman said. Harley looked at the stranger, but something was familiar about her. "I was hoping to get you alone."

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Harley asked. Was she about to get stabbed in the bathroom?

"I don't look that _different_. It's only been a few years." The woman huffed. Harley blinked at the girl, and then it slowly dawned on her who she was.

"Selina...?" Harley gasped.

"Ding, ding, ding." Selina Kyle, the infamous Catwoman, smiled widely. Harley wanted to hug her old friend, but her hands were currently wet.

"What are you doing here?" Harley gasped.

"I could ask the same thing! I thought you were dead, there is even a grave stone at the cemetery. That is, until I saw your picture in the paper, and I wouldn't have recognized you, but Ivy did." Selina said.

"Ivy? Where is she?" Harley perked up, she had missed her close friend all these years.

"She couldn't come. She doesn't exactly hide very well in plain sight, what with the skin and all." Selina waved her hands a bit. "Anyway, we're just glad to see that you are on your own two feet and happy. But, you haven't been contacted by him...have you?" It took a moment for Harley's brain to register who Selina was referring to. But there was only one 'him' in Harley's world.

"No." Harley said, her voice shook slightly. "I thought he was still in Arkham?" She said.

"Please, you think Arkham can hold him when he finds out you're alive? If we can find you, so can he. Be careful, Ivy and I's protection can only go so far." Selina said, sympathy filled her features.

"I don't think he'll try to find me." Harley said, more to reassure herself.

"Maybe if you were more like how you were before, then yeah. But not now, you're everything he destroyed the first time he got into your mind." Selina shook her head.

"He can't do it again. Harleen Quinzel, Harley Quinn, is dead. Like you said, there is even a grave stone." Harley said.

"Alright. I wont keep you waiting, don't want people to think I'm beating you up in here." Selina straightened up, she didn't seem convinced by Harley's words.

"Or raping me." Harley broke out into a smile and she laughed.

"Harley Quinn may be dead, but her sense of humor sure isn't." Her friend shook her head, the corner's of her mouth bent up in a small smile as she left the bathroom.

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><p>if you read all of that you deserve a cookie<p>

_imagine writing it_

i mostly wrote scenes of this during study hall (lol wut homework)

I'm just going to refer to harley as harley in the fic and not her new name so the reader wont be confused, just remember that, and no the name Ems is not made up. I totally know some one with that name. Totally. Maddox is the last name of one of my friends. Its an awesome last name. And Bruer is just the guys last name as I have yet been able to think of his first name. oh well.

this is my first batman/dark knight fic (which is unthinkable considering i fucking love it) please inform me of any spelling errors cause i have a feeling i missed some


	2. Chapter 2

Harley Quinn leaned against the window. It had been three months since her self-incarceration, and she had been moved from the padded cell to a new wide open room. The window was small, but it was a window. Guards still followed her everywhere, but that was something Harley couldn't help. Outside, several teenage patients were laying in the bright summer sun, notebooks open in front of them. They had a different doctor, one that made them write out their feelings in composition notebooks.

'Stupid Hippie.' Harley grumbled. She was envious, she wished she could be outside, with fresh air and natural light, not filtered air and light bulbs that were covered by iron bars. They probably didn't trust her with a pencil. The door buzzed and she jumped as it opened. A burly security guard awkwardly stood there and muttered something about how it was time for therapy. Harley stood up, eager to get started. So far, she hadn't once been given any counseling, her doctor had largely left her alone.

She smugly followed the guard down the hall and up some stairs, trying to recall the methods she learned herself while in college. The blonde entered a large open cafeteria that was empty, Dr. Maddox was sitting at a circle table in the corner by a row of large white windows that practically covered the entire wall. Harley sat across from the woman and the Guard leaned against the wall a few feet away.

"How have you been?" Dr. Maddox asked, her painted nails playing with the edge of the folder she had in front of her that was thickly stuffed with papers.

"Good." Harley said awkwardly.

"Sorry it took so long for us to have our first session, I just had a feeling you wanted to be left alone." Dr. Maddox said quickly. "I wanted to gather a few things as well, first. I had to fight tooth and nail to get them too. But we'll look at those later." She said before Harley could respond, and she pulled out a newspaper. There were several rows of faces with small text below them, and Harley recognized the section. She used to read it for fun, the obituary pages. She saw her own face peering back in a grainy black and white photo.

'Harleen Quinzel died last Wednesday night around eleven thirty-five p.m.' That was all that was written.

"That's all I'm worth?" Harley pouted. Instantly, another newspaper was laid before her, except this was the front page of the newspaper in Gotham.

'Harley Quinn dead, body found.' The headline grabbed her attention, in bold and italics, it screamed at her. There were a series of pictures of her, from her early days in college to a few months before her death. She grimaced as she saw her mugshot. Harley read the article over and over again, it was entirely devoted to her and even covered her descent into madness. It painted her as a tragic victim, a naive little girl that trusted the wrong people.

"That is actually from a few weeks ago. The press is still covering this story like mad, eventually they ran out of things about the Joker and are now beginning to focus on you." Dr. Maddox said.

"Can I keep this?" Harley asked and her doctor nodded. "I have to ask though, what does this have to do with my treatment?" She asked.

"Simple. You are dead. Harley Quinn's funeral was two days ago. My goal of this treatment is to bring you back to Harleen Quinzel, but of course you can't use that name. There is to much infamy attached to it, as well as unwanted memories, even if you changed it to Harley Quinn." Dr. Maddox began.

"So?" Harley snapped impatiently.

"Who do you want to be?"

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><p><strong>Diamonds and Spades<strong>

**by lolasbunnyroo**

** Two**

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><p>Harley was currently balled up against her window in her hotel room. She had switched rooms after berating the front desk, the poor woman there shrunk away from Harley now every time she walked by. Her new room was a few floors up, it was slightly bigger and decorated like any generic hotel room trying to impress bored middle class white people who wanted to pretend they were rich.<p>

Outside it was raining, and it was Friday. They were to leave that Sunday, and Harley was still praying that her luck would continue until then. She hadn't seen Selina or Ivy since the bathroom encounter, nor any other masked villains or superheros. It was all so strangely calm, it out her on edge instead of helping her. She couldn't wait to return home, reunite with her pet cat who was being watched by a friend, and eat a carton of ice cream. Her phone buzzed angrily then and she crossed the room to answer it.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hey, Harley, how are you doing?" Dr. Maddox asked. Harley silently let out a breath, she always got nervous when answering phones. She had forgotten about Dr. Maddox's daily phone calls in her reverie, in fact she had been waiting around for it before setting off to the stage.

"Good, it's actually been a quiet week." Harley said, leaning against her dresser. Her eyes were fixated to looking out of the window she had just been leaning against, it was only nine in the morning, but the overcast and rain made it appear to be dusk.

"I told you, nothing to worry about. You need to stop being afraid of ghosts. The Joker is to busy chasing after a grown man dressed as a bat." Dr. Maddox chuckled, and Harley gave a faint smile. It was one of her favorite activities, to bash her Ex with her Doctor, almost like a normal person would. "When you get back, you could-"

"What was that?" Harley demanded quickly. She could of sworn she heard it, three faint clicks, they had been rapid and hard to catch, but Harley did.

"What was what?" Dr. Maddox questioned.

"The phone. It's been tapped." Harley's voice rose in paranoia, and her head whipped around, and she began to ransack the area, as if she expected to find the culprit there.

"Harley, are you okay?" Dr. Maddox questioned, her doctor tone kicked in automatically, searching for any symptoms and forming a hypothesis to lecture Harley with.

"I sweat it has. Contact me in a different way. The phone isn't safe." She said after ripping her bed apart. She threw the shelves of her dresser out, flinging close out this way and that.

"Harley-" Dr. Maddox began, but Harley hung up abruptly, snapping the phone in half with hidden strength brought on by adrenaline. She threw her window open and chucked it out as hard as she could. She watched as the mangled piece of plastic hurdled through the air and disappeared in the streets below. She regretting having to destroy her cell phone, she loved that little guy, but if someone could tap her phone calls, then someone could hack her text messages and emails. She began to hit herself, as she forgot to take out the SIM card, the phone company was going to have a cow when she told them.

"Knock, knock!" A voice said and Gabe leaned into the room. "Whoa, did you get robbed?" He questioned as he saw the destruction of Harley's frenzy.

"Erm, no, I lost something, I was looking for it and got carried away." Harley lied, standing in the middle of the carnage like an idiot.

"Okay, Bruer sent me to get you, we're having a little party, just the cast and crew." Gabe said excitedly.

"Why?" She asked, as she dug through the pile of close for her coat. She pulled her black peacoat around her shoulders.

"Why not? You have to be there anyway, you're one of the leads." He smiled and the two departed together. She kept looking over her shoulder as she did so, her long blond hair bounced around her nervously. "Something wrong?" Gabe asked as they entered the elevator, the only other inhabitant a college student who was fiddling with their watch.

"Oh, nothing." Harley said, staring down the other boy, only turning around when Gabe kept looking at her with a furrowed brow. The rode downward in silence, and they got off at the ground level, but the college student stayed. Unknown to Harley, the student snapped a few pictures of her as she walked away. He set out to get them developed immediately as instructed, knowing some one else would trail her to the theater.

The two arrived at the theater quickly, dodging rain drops as they went. Inside, it was toasty and warm, a sharp contrast to the weather outside.

"There they are!" Bruer announced as they entered back stage, and everyone whooped and hollered. Gabe smiled, glad for the attention, while Harley dropped her eyes. Everyone knew each other, so she found this party to be a waste of time. There was cake and junk food, some ignored the tempting confections, while others were pigging out. Harley spotted Violet and May talking to Lauren and a dancer named Michael. She made her way over to them, clutching a small plate filled with a slice of cake as she did, stopping to make small talk with others as she did so.

"Hi." She smiled at her friends who all beamed back. She made no attempt to join the conversation, her nerves were to jumbled up to allow normal conversation. Gabe found them and set to having an animated discussion with Michael. Lauren left to talk to some others, and Violet stood up abruptly, stomping away.

"What's her problem?" Gabe questioned.

"She likes you." Harley blurted out.

"Huh?" Gabe's mouth dropped open. May and Michael started laughing as he left in a daze. Their little party ended a few hours later and they began to set up for that nights show. Harley sat in her dressing room, donning her characters signature black skinny jeans and red high tops. There was a knock at her door as she started to fix her messy bangs. She turned around to answer, but something was slipped under the door. Her heart began to race as she recognized the back of a playing card. She bent down slowly, partly due to her skin tight jeans, and picked it up. She turned it over to see the Joker smiling back at her, perched atop his unicycle.

Her gaze slowly rest on the door, and she pondered, 'Is he behind the door right now?' She turned around and grabbed her lamp, pulling its cord out of the wall and holding it like a baseball bat, raised it above her head. She unlocked the door, and waited a few seconds, before kicking the door wide open and springing out. The hall way was empty, and she could hear the sound of stage hands running about farther down. Her breath came shortly, she hadn't realized she was holding it.

"Who ever you are, leave me alone. My name is Ems." Harley breathed to the darkness. She swore she heard a chuckle of a laugh as a response, it was barely audible and a familiar one at that, but may have been just the creation of her imagination. 'God, i'm going insane all over again!' She cursed, backing up.

"Ems! What are you doing? Save that for the stage, c'mon!" The Stage Director called.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah." She said and hectically placed the lamp back inside her dressing room, closing the door and dashing to the populated part of the stage. Harley found it difficult to throw herself into her part at first, she was to distracted, but she was an actor after all.

"Harley, are you okay?" Bruer asked her during the intermission.

"Yeah, I just have allot on my mind." Harley fidgeted with the seam on her shirt.

"Do you need to go back home? I would understand if you do." He said intensely.

"No!" Harley said loudly several people around her jumped. "I mean, no, no. I can finish." She said, shaking her head. The rest of the play went off without a hitch, but she was spared from the after party, Bruer sternly told her to go back to her hotel room and get some sleep, even offering to send body guards if need be. Harley declines, knowing that if _he _was after her, that two measly body guards wouldn't stop him.

It was heavily raining as she stepped out onto the streets, cursing that her coat didn't have a hood and she forgot her umbrella. As she crawled into the back of a taxi, she was reminded of that day. She had no idea what went wrong with their plan, and Harley suspected most of it was her fault. She had fucked up, as she always did when it came to his schemes. How did she get her stomach wound again? She had no idea any more, maybe from the fall or the momentary fight with the Bat himself. She mostly remembered the rain.

She got out then and made her way to her room, leaning against the elevator door, heavily exhausted out of no where. Her eyes dropped and she was awoken from her nap as the door pinged, announcing her arrival at her floor. Harley stepped out and saw a man was at her door, trying to pry the lock open. She squinted, unsure of what she was seeing at first.

"Hey!" She yelled and the man looked at her, his eyes growing wide as he did so before bolting down the hallway. Harley instinctively gave chase, she wanted to get to the bottom of this _now_. She chased him into the stair well, the man was taller than her, and therefore his strides were more wide as he descended the flights quickly. She continued to follow him as he threw the emergency exit door open, and the alarm blared. She left it all behind her, following him into the city streets and into the growing darkness. The city at night did not scare her like it used to, she knew the inns and outs of this place better than some who spent their entire lives there.

He tried to make an escape through several alley ways, and as he past a dumpster with a spray painted gas mask on in, Harley skidded in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the graffiti, and her blood seemed to freeze in its tracks. She slowly backed up and ran the other way, stumbling over her own shoes as she did so several times in a desperate attempt to get back to her hotel. She had passed that dumpster several times when she sported a red and black leotard. It marked the territory of the Joker.

By the time she made it back to her hotel room, she was sobbing dryly. The chest heaving and hyperventilation was there, but tears were not finding an escape route through her eyes. The mess in her room had been cleaned up by the maid, and several more pots of flowers were awaiting her. There was one, a small bouquet of red and black roses. Without even searching for a card she picked it up, tossing the flowers into the trash, dumping the water down the drain, and tossing the vase angrily at the wall. She looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes wide with fear, tinted green from her contacts.

There was a folded piece of paper tucked against the mirror's frame. Ems was written on it in a large cursive sprawl. Harley reached forward and grabbed it, unfolding it harshly.

_'He knows. You're being followed. You're not safe.'_

_'Get out of the city.'_

_-Selina_

* * *

><p>plot is starting to pick up :P<p>

my goal is to make this a fairly short story, maybe five chapters at the most, i made this chapter shorter than the first to make up for the first one being so long, but the next one will probably long again, so prepare yourself lol

ive been getting alot of hits/alerts/faves, but more reviews would be appreciated :3 also, point out any spelling and grammar errors please


	3. Chapter 3

It was her first trip outside since she arrived in the psyche ward. Harley gingerly approached the door, Dr. Maddox smiled at her as she did so approvingly, nudging her on. She cried that day, sitting in the grass that had been freshly cut, a butterfly landed on her shoulder before floating away.

"So, have you decided on your new name?" Dr. Maddox asked. Harley was laying down in a hammock that was stretched between two trees. Dr. Maddox was sitting in a lawn chair, wards would occasionally drift by, patients milled about, enjoying the warm weather. Harley inhaled deeply, it was never this warm back in Gotham, except maybe once during the summer.

"No." She spoke up, exhaling. She found it weird renaming herself. She ran her fingers through her hair, it was getting longer. Maybe she'd keep it long, let it grow out a little.

"Take your time, we're not in a rush. What would you like to talk about? I for one got a new book yesterday, and found it very interesting. I'm almost done reading it." Dr. Maddox began chatting. Harley frowned, she found her Doctor's methods of treatment odd, she couldn't pick up on what she was doing some times, or rather the point.

"What's the book about?" Harley asked.

"Oh, you know, just some things." Dr. Maddox said pleasantly. Harley gritted her teeth, Dr. Maddox always did this, she'd bring something up, and when Harley would question it, she'd brush it off.

"What's it about." Harley demanded, sitting up. The hammock wobbled dangerously at her sudden movement, and Harley tried to balance herself to keep it from tipping over, but in vain, and she spilled out of it and onto the grassy floor. This didn't even faze the Doctor who was writing lazily in her notebook. "Your not about to go write a book about our sessions, are you?" Harley mumbled into the dirt, to ashamed to sit back up.

"No." The Doctor said simply. Harley looked up at the lazy blue sky, the sun hidden behind a fat fluffy cloud. It reminded her of mashed potatoes.

"Ems." Harley spoke then.

"Hm?" Dr. Maddox paused her writing.

"My new name. I want it to be Ems." She clarified.

* * *

><p><strong>Diamonds and Spades<strong>

**by lolasbunnyroo**

**Three**

* * *

><p>Harley slept that night, more like lay wide awake with her eyes staring at the door, in May's room. She shared it with several other dancers, and Harley tried to let their collective snoring drown our her own fears. Around five in the morning, a storm rolled into the city. Great sheets of rain battered the tall skyscrapers, those outside could be seen dashing quickly from here to there, armed with an umbrella. Wind howled against the windows, and claps of thunder echoed through the air. Lighting occasionally lit up the dim sky.<p>

"May, where's Bruer's room?" Harley shook her sleeping friend.

"I dunno, down the hall?" May yawned widely, before rolling over. "Wait, when did you get in here?" May asked, her eyes dropped as she looked at Harley, but the blonde left before May's question could be answered. Harley knew she couldn't return to her room, and had a wild guess where Bruer would be. It was the final night of the show, and he'd be at the theater hall already. She set outside without an umbrella, ignoring calling a taxi and ran across the slick sidewalk. She almost slid several times, but made it to the theater, soaking wet to the bone.

"Bruer!" She called, squelching her way down the aisle seats to the stage. The old man looked up from a chair that had been set out on the set, his eyes widened at Harely's state, and he stood up.

"Harley, what's wrong?" He meet her halfway.

"He knows. He knows I'm here. He's after me." Harley breathed.

"What?" Bruer asked in disbelief.

"The Joker!" Harley hissed out, her voice cracked, speaking the name. "I need to leave the city, _now." _She added, walking backward, away from him.

"Yes, yes. I understand. I'll have it arranged." He said and rooted through his pockets for a cell phone. A great clap of thunder boomed, and the entire building shook. The lights flickered dangerously, but stayed on. "Let's get back to the hotel where there is more people." Bruer mused, and towed Harley along. Outside it was pouring harder, and one could hardly see through the downpour. Bruer had an umbrella and several times it was almost snatched out of his hand by furious gusts of wind. They made it back to the hotel, and Harley was shaking from how cold she was. People were massed in the lobby as several concierges scrambled around to get to everyone.

"Everyone, please stay in the lobby, the city has issued a tornado warning for the time being." A voice said over the intercom. People outside flodded into the hotel to avoid the storm, as they could not reach their destination through it.

"This isn't good. It's as if he timed this." Bruer cursed under his breath. Others in the play wandered in, as they were evacuated from their rooms.

"What's going on?" Violet asked after fighting her way through the crowd.

"Excuse me, could I get a blanket?" Bruer called, and almost at once, a wool blanket found it's way around Harley, who explained to Violet about the storm. "Bad news Harley, the subway and airlines have been shut down because of the storm." Bruer said gravely.

"You're leaving?" Violet looked between the two. The lights flickered, and then went black. People started shouting, some squealed in fear, and others were smart enough to pull out their cell phones to light the darkness. Harley's breath came short, and she shivered under the blanket. Something caused her to freeze then, she was caught in someone's gaze. She slowly turned around, her skin dully vibrated underneath, and she felt a magnetic draw toward the stair case that led to the hotel's ball room. There was a figure standing in the darkness atop it, his frame only lit dimly through the distant windows and the torrential downpour. Thunder shook the building, and its entire frame seemed to rattle. Lightning illuminated the space, a ghostly bluish color, and Harley's heart stopped as she was filled with terror.

The Joker was staring down at her.

The lightning faded and the room was plunged into darkness, she tore her eyes away from the Joker's frame, and felt a scream build up in her chest, but found her voice was gone. Her heart picked back up double the speed, and she had to sit down, her ears throbbed dully and she couldn't hear the people talking around her.

The lights powered back on and everyone let out a collective sigh, Violet sat down next to Harley, who despite all of her own protests, looked back up, to see the Joker was gone. She began her breathing technique once more to calm her erratic heart, she gripped her chest, was she having a heart attack?

"Ems, what's wrong?" Bruer bent down next to her.

"Dr. Maddox- I have to talk to...her." Harley breathed, and Bruer nodded, handing her his phone. Harley decided she didn't care if the Joker did tap her phone, or that everyone was about to over hear her conversation.

"Harely-!" Dr. Maddox answered at once barely through the first ring.

"I saw him, I _saw_ him!" Harley said, falling all over her words.

"Calm down Harley, if it's him, you must remain clam, don't let your emotions get the best of you. He's trying to break you, prove to him that you're stronger than that." Dr. Maddox said sternly.

"You don't get it...the reason why he is obsessed with Batman is because Batman is _unbreakable_. If I, if he thinks-" Harley gulped.

"Get out of the city now. I'll call in a tank to escort you out if I need to." Dr. Maddox said. Violet listened to the conversation, questions formed across her face with each word, as she could practically hear Dr. Maddox through the receiver. Harley looked up and read Bruer's face.

"Bruer wants to talk to you." She said and handed him the phone.

"She called you Harley." Violet whispered and Harley nodded. "But, she's, Harley...why we couldn't come here-?" Violet stuttered, and one could practically see the truth dawn over Violet. She backed away from the blonde slowly, and disappeared back into the crowd. Harley stared at the spot Violet vanished through and felt a numb anger settle over her. Harley Quinn wouldn't just sit here and cry, she'd get up and do something about it, granted Harley Quinn would have skipped happily back into the Joker's abusive arms. By now, everyone was beginning to return to their rooms as the storm threat was over, and Harley and Bruer were left standing there alone.

"Bruer, I want to perform the last play." She stood up abruptly that she started him and her head spun from the quick movement.

"Ems, that is highly unsafe." Bruer sputtered.

"If I don't he wins." Harley said through gritted teeth. Bruer was silent for a long moment, and Harley kept on her determined stare, that she eventually defeated him.

"Alright, you can, but I'm increasing security. There'll be armed guards and the such." He muttered.

"What did Dr. Maddox say?" Harley asked.

"Oh, she just told me about your medical history and gave me some advice." He coughed, and Harley knew what kind of advice. For if she where to go insane again. "Come with me, I don't want you out of my sight." He said and Harley nodded, following him.

_Line Break_

Harley stood behind the curtains, and her breaths came surprisingly slow. Behind the thin barrier of cloth she could hear the audience talking lowly to themselves, behind her, stage hands were fixing last minute adjustments. The lights dimmed and with them the audience chatter. Bruer walked out onto the stage visible in front of the stage, and began talking, giving a final farewell to Gotham. Harley breathed out deeply, and was surprised she was so calm about this all. There was a shower of applause as Bruer finished his speech and retreated behind. As practiced earlier that day, and countless times before, Harley began walking as the curtains parted. She reached the edge of the stage as her character was supposed to, and she looked out into the crowd, seeing nothing but a familiar wall of black, the occasional outline of a person moved. She drew in a short breath before beginning.

Almost three hours later, the play had run longer than usual, Harley gazed out with an empty stare, fake blood was smeared across her face. The audience seemed to be clapping harder than usual tonight, maybe because everyone had performed their best that night. The fake blood also stained her character's shirt, they had gone through black shirts by the dozens whenever they performed this play. Gabe helped her down as he always did when the lights dimmed and they made their way backstage.

"Everyone! Get ready!" Bruer smiled widely, momentarily elated by the audience's cheer. Everyone was so happy, smiling and excited, while Harley shuffled about stone faced. They took their spots on stage and the lights shone on once more. One by one one, they took their bow, and she managed to smile when it was her turn.

"Ems, are you going to the after party?" Gabe asked her when they all returned back stage.

"Yep." Harley said cheerily and notice Violet spying her from across the stage. Harley decided she'd talk to Violet later, and made her way to her dressing room. The Guards that where stationed outside of her room because of a 'stalker' threat according to everyone else, where munching on a tray of doughnuts and snacks for everyone else, and entered her room and clicked the light on, shutting the door behind her.

Something swung and she ducked as a metal bat thudded against the door. There was a clicking noise as her attacker locked the door. Harley back up, tripping over a chair as the man walked toward her, tapping the bat to the back of his hand. He wore a clown mask and she recognized him to be one of the Joker's henchmen. He swung the bat again, grunting as he did so. It smashed against her chair as she dodged once more, throwing her rack of close in front of her. He violently threw them out of the way and held the bat against her head, and she knew if he were to swing, she'd be out like a light.

"Do you know how annoying it was, stalking you? You're such a boring person." He growled behind his mask, Harley remained silent. "I don't get the Joker's obsession with you, you are kind of pretty...I should just kill you myself." He mused, and arced the bat back to slam it against her skull. Harley was quicker and she kicked him where it hurt, as he doubled over she stood up, grabbing the bat herself and hitting him randomly with it. She saw a flash, and though for one split second that it was the Joker she was hitting. Inwardly, all of her rage bubbled up and she hit him with enough force, she heard something crack within the henchman.

"If the Joker wants me, tell him to come get me himself." She hissed into his ear, almost as if he were her lover. She unlocked the door and swung it open, her guards were still scarfing down treats, and she frowned, storming away.

Everyone else had pretty much left already, the after party being held in the very hotel that the troupe was staying at. Outside, it was dim and night was creeping upon the city, she ran as fast as she could, people jumped out of her way as she cut a path toward the hotel. Inside, the lobby was clear of any guest as people in rich dresses and suites milled about. Harley ignored their stares as she made her way up the stair case.

"Ma'am, this is a formal event." A hotel employee stopped her at the large arching doors to the ball way, which had been placed open for the event. It was hard for her to imagine that hours earlier she had seen the Joker up here.

"Yes, I know, but I'm the star of the show." Harley said. The man looked at her outfit and pursed his lips. Never in her life had Harley tried to pull the 'I'm a celebrity' card, because she hardly was one, but she had to see Bruer and tell him about the apparition in her dressing room. Harley sighed dramatically and turned as if she was going to leave, then she ran past him and heard him shout for security.

"Ems!" Bruer called and she stopped in front of him. Several rich men where standing around him and looked at her with raised eyebrows. Two guard seized her by her arms and held her up, grumbling to Bruer if she was allowed and he nodded. They dropped her and stalked away. "Ems, why aren't you properly dressed?" He asked.

"There was a man in my dressing room, he attacked me with a metal bat!" Harley said, waving her arms. Bruer gasped at this, and asked where her security had been. "Eating doughnuts." She grumbled, and the rich men laughed.

"Oh, yes, Ems, this here is Mr. Wayne and-" Bruer introduced the men to Harley, but she could hardly care. She searched the crowd for Violet while the Wayne guy was talking about something.

"Excuse me." Harley said and left, making her way toward her friend. Before she could, she was jerked to the side. "Hey!" She hissed as a woman with dark black hair pulled her into a hall way where the bathrooms were.

"It's me!" Selina hissed and Harley calmed down.

"What is it?" Harley asked.

"I thought I told you to leave? Why are you still here?" Selina asked.

"I tried, but everything was shut down because of the storm from earlier." Harley mumbled.

"It's been a long week, Ivy and I were doing our best to cover you, but the Joker." Selina cursed through gritted teeth. Before Harley could respond, there was a loud resounding bang, like a gun shot. Selina shoved Harley out of viewpoint from the ball room and looked, throwing out the 'f' word.

"What?" Harley asked, wanting to peak, but every nerve in her body told her not to.

"Speak of the Devil. C'mon." Selina pulled Harley away to leave.

"I can't just leave! All of my friends are in there with that lunatic!" Harley protested as they marched down the hall way and out an emergency exit to a dim stair case.

"Yes, and he's looking for you. Once he realizes you aren't there, then he'll try to find you in the city." Selina said as they trampled down the stairs.

"You're going to hide me?" Harley asked, pausing at a flight.

"No, I'm going to try and get you out of the city. I'm sure Batman will show up and try to stop the Joker, at least I hope." Selina sighed and continued on. Harley followed and they escaped outside to the alleyway. They paused before exiting, making sure the clown's henchmen weren't outside. There was a wail of police sirens in the distance, getting closer and closer. "We're going to leave in a car, he wont be expecting it, and we'll move quicker." Selina informed as they walked swiftly down the street, away from the hotel. They slid into a sleek black car, and the driver turned around to smile at Harley, a woman with red hair and green skin.

"Ivy!" Harley said happily and threw her arms around her friend.

"It's good to see you, Harley." Ivy laughed. She started the car and then they where flying down the street, evading cars and not stopping for a second. Ivy would occasionally change route, turning randomly, but looping to the same streets as they made their way through the city. Harley felt extremely guilty for leaving everyone she loved alone with her crazy ex, and she prayed with all of her might that they were safe.

"How are you going to get me out of the city?" Harley asked.

"The public transportation isn't safe, and I don't think we'll get very far in this car, more than likely, Ivy is going to smuggle you out." Selina said.

"What about you?" Harley asked.

"I'm going to have to beat the shit out of the Joker, if I have to." Selina growled and Harley gasped. She opened her mouth to protest when the car was slammed into from the side. They spun erratically, and Ivy tried to keep control of the vehicle. It in return, hit a heavy iron lamp post that cracked and fell against the roof of the car. When everything was still, Harley's head was pounding, blood was dripping out of a cut on her head, as she had hit it violently against the window. She was pretty sure she had a concussion as well, and cursed her self for not using her seat belt. She heard Ivy's voice, it was far off and distant, as if a filter had been placed over it to make her voice grainy.

Footsteps fell against the broken glace, and men in clown masks stared at her through the battered and broken glass. Harley's vision began to swim, and someone told her not to black out, to keep conscious. The door opened and she fell out, as Harley had been leaning against it. Firm hands clamped around her, and she heard someone yell.

"Ems. My name. Is. Ems." Harley breathed before she blacked out.

* * *

><p>not as long as i wanted it : but oh well, sorry for such a late update, i had finals :(

dont worry, no one is dead, and im kinda bummed out ivy didnt get more lines, but next chapter i feel she will, and im thinkin batman will show up :) and of course not, i did not think of that scene in the dark night when the joker crashed that party when i was writing my own pshh

thank you for all the lovely reviews I got :) questions, comments, concerns? please let me know! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Harley was laying down on her bed, twirling a bouncy ball in her hands. She had been bouncing it against her ceiling earlier, but the ward upstairs complained and some nurse threatened to take it away from her if she didn't behave. What was the point of having a bouncy ball if she couldn't play with it? She frowned, and chucked it across the small room where it landed with a dull thud on her desk. All she had been doing at her desk was reading. They were only allowed to visit the library once every two weeks, and Harley had mowed through all of her books already.

Outside it was dark, the night had settled around the area like a warm blanket, it was cold outside, so the heaters were on. She had to find a new hobby. Maybe she'd take up gymnastics again, give her something to do. Or should she go back to school? She still had to pursue her doctorate.

"No, definitely not." Harley mused to herself, psychology was out of the question. She got up and crossed the room, picking up her newspaper collection. All of the articles were about her in one way or the other. She had cut out pictures of the Joker though and threw them away, in a hopeful attempt she would eventually forget his face. She had only seen him a few times without his make up on, that would be easy to erase from her memory sure enough, but with the make up on, he was a haunting and permanent creature. She tried to recall what his voice sounded like, and could conjure up some sort of ghost of a voice, the words he would whisper to her when no one else was around, and even the enraged growl of his voice when he was mad.

She had to admit, a strong part of her still yearned for him, to break down the glass window, scale down the building, climb the fence, and run off the Gotham and bust out her Mistah J. To be honest though, Harley still had no idea where she was, Dr. Maddox was tight lipped when it came to revealing the city Harley was now residing in. It wasn't that big, as when she looked out to the city sky line she was very few skyscrapers.

"Light's out!" A Guard waltzed by, he paused outside of her room and Harley clicked her lamp out, satisfied the Guard continued on. Harley hated that they all had to be in bed by eight. Even when Harley had been a kid she usually didn't go to sleep until nine/nine-thirty tops. She sat back down on her bed, her vision in the dark much better than others. Lately she had spent allot of time alone, without much to do other than when she had to go to therapy. She had allot of time with her own thoughts. She didn't like that at all.

* * *

><p><strong>Diamonds and Spades<strong>

**by lolasbunnyroo**

**Four**

* * *

><p>Ivy's head throbbed like a pounding drum. She fought against the airbag that had popped out upon the collision and her seat belt dug into her skin. Selina was busy streaming out a line of profanities, scrambling to get out of her seat. The door opened and Harley muttered something incomprehensible to Ivy's ears. She looked over to see one of the Joker's henchmen pick up the blond, who was rapidly becoming unconscious.<p>

"Let her go!" Selina yelled, and she kicked open her door. Ivy was stuck where she was at in a stunned expression. She shook her head and remembered that was her best friend out there after all, and she jumped out of the now broken car. People were assembling curiously, and those smart quickly ran from the scene upon seeing the clown masks. Selina charged at a few of the men, knocking many back. A bullet grazed Selina's shoulder and Ivy was stunned, the henchmen had never actually opened fire upon the other various villains running around the city. The Joker must be serious about getting Harley back. The henchman raised the gun again to finish off Selina, when Ivy attacked him furiously, angered anyone would try to kill one of her friends.

"He's getting away!" Ivy threw her hands up, the one that was carrying Harley had climbed up a nearby building's fire escape and was making his getaway, surprisingly well considering he had to carry Harley.

"Well, let's go after him." Selina straightened up, shrugging off her wound. Ivy agreed, the police were likely to investigate the scene, one could still hear their sirens in the distance.

'Hopefully that means the Joker is still at that party.' Ivy thought as her and Selina gave chase.

_Line Break_

Harley faded in and out, her head was killing her. She knew she had to keep from going completely under, common knowledge was that it was unwise to black out when suffering from a concussion. She inhaled weakly and wanted to gag. Who smelled so bad? It sure wasn't her.

"God damn, you stink." She groaned, covering her nose.

"I should just drop you, after all, you did paralyze one of my friends." The person growled back with a deep throaty voice. Harley's eyes flew open and rest on a grimy clown mask. 'Oh shit, oh shit, shit shit!' Ran through her head. She thrashed about then, but his grip was iron hard.

"Ivy! Selina!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, surely they'd give chase? The henchman stopped, standing on the edge of a building, and he held her out at arms length.

"If you don't shut up, I'll drop you right here and now." He barked.

"HELP!" Harley let out a scream so loudly and abruptly, it scared her even. The man jumped and his light grip on her lessened, and she was sent tumbling down into the streets below. Her hand grasped around the ledge of the building on instinct. The man reached down to grab her back up, but Harley panicked and threw her hands off of the ledge, sliding against the side of the building, her hands burned from the friction and her shoes squealed loudly. She crashed into a group of trashcans, sending their contents everywhere. Stunned that she practically defied the laws of gravity, Harley stood up, swaying on her feet, running toward the mouth of the alley way to make her escape. Her eyes rest on an all to familiar dumpster, and the image of a spray painted gas mask caused her to freeze in her tracks. She could hear her captors footsteps clamoring down the fire escape, and despite her body's protests, Harley ran toward the street.

She must have looked a sight, for she startled a sleeping homeless man, who looked at her with wide eyes. Imagine, seeing a woman burst through an alley way with her long hair messy, blood staining her shirt (even though it was fake), and her eyes wild with fear. She looked around for the street sign so she could get her bearings. Harley ran, not sure if she was still being followed, and paused, reading the street sign. She immediately knew where she was, years of stalking these streets coming in handy. She was about four blocks from the hotel, from safety. She strained her ears for the sound of police sirens, but heard nothing.

Not trusting the streets, Harley darted back into a different alley way, easily scaling the side of the brick building and onto its rooftop. The wind stripped against her face, and blew her long hair back. She took a deep breath and looked around, and a prickling sensation told her she was not alone. Hoping that Ivy and Selina would be okay, she ran across the rooftops, her arms were not used to the physical activity she once exerted, and she found them groaning in pain after only a few short minutes. Her side was burning, but she knew she had to keep going. 'When did I get so out of shape?' She wheezed, and almost tripped, her head was still killing her. She wanted nothing more than to take a few pain killers and bury herself under a few layers of quilts.

The feeling of not being alone overwhelmed her again, normally Harley wouldn't follow her feelings, but sometimes you had to trust your instincts. She turned her head to see a large black mass coming toward her. She let out a scream, stumbling clumsily on her feet and falling to the ground, her hands, already rubbed raw, were cut open. Harley turned over and started to crawl away as the black mass swooped down and in front of her. The man stood tall and looked down at her wearing an all to familiar mask. Harley's breath hitched in her throat, and she looked at him with wide fearful eyes.

"I'm here to help you." Batman said, wondering why she had fallen over the way she did. Harley just stared at him, blinking widely. He crossed his arms awkwardly, and shifted on his feet, waiting for her brain to unscramble itself. Instead, Harley laughed. She kept on laughing that it started to disturb him. "Are you insane again?" He eyed her.

"No, it's funny is all. We used to be enemies, and now, you're helping me." She wheezed, getting to her feet. "Have you seen Ivy? Or Catwoman?" Harley asked.

"Yes, I ran into them. They'll catch up shortly. We need to keep moving, he's close." Batman said sternly, and Harley nodded. She had to admit, she was intimidated by him still. She kept moving with Batman as her new body guard, he had no trouble with flying across the cityscape, but Harley was. She was determined not to look like a helpless little blonde haired girl, so she did her best to keep up.

"Harley!" A voice called, and Catwoman, or Selina to Harley, appeared, her frame striking against the dark sky.

"Selina!" Harley beamed. "Where's Ivy?" Harley paused to catch up on their plan. Batman stopped reluctantly, but one could tell he wanted to keep moving.

"She's throwing the Joker off your trail, he'd probably try to go after her since you two are so close." Selina informed Harley, who nodded. She hoped Ivy would be okay and hold her own. Selina looked at Batman and the two nodded, and he quickly swooped away.

"Where's he going?" Harley asked.

"To beat the ever loving crap out of the Joker, like the always do to one another." Selina smiled and Harley smiled lightly at the joke. Harley tried to think why she had been so terrified of seeing Batman, granted anyone would have a mini heart attack seeing a man dressed like a giant bat drop down before them at night, but Harley had been terrified, thinking death was surely coming to get her. Maybe it had something to do with the night one of the Joker's plans failed, and Harley was left to deal with her shattered psyche on her own, the night she would leave him and spend four years with her thoughts.

"Do you know what happened at the party? Is everyone okay?" Harley asked Selina as they left the Joker's territory, and began to make their way to the outskirts of the city. Selina shook her head no, and Harley felt her stomach drop. If anyone got hurt because of her, any of her innocent friends whom she had considered like family to her, she couldn't live with herself.

"Watch out!" Selina yelled and a rope attached to a grappling hook came bursting out of no where. Harley tripped over and was once again thrown to the ground. She let out a loud and long stream of curse words, how many times was she going to fall today? Her body was going to hate her in the morning. More man in masks ambushed them. Selina began her one woman army assault right back at them as Harley scrambled to her feet, disoriented, and looking around, figures as shapes were blending together, her brain rattled further from her sudden fall. Something hit her in the stomach and she was winded, clutching her stomach and coughing.

Through her tears, Harley could see Selina had been dragged to the ground, her arms pinned behind her and the henchmen started laughing at the snarling jewel thief. Anger shot through Harley, and she bit her lip so hard she drew blood and her senses came back with sharp clarity, she was almost crippled by it all.

"Hey! You're after me right, boys?" Harley threw in her old accent and they all looked at her, probably stunned behind their masks, thinking Harley Quinn was back. She smiled sweetly, flipped them the bird, and took off running. They gave chase, and Harley was ready this time, dodging bullets that cracked behind her, gliding over trash bins and other obstructions. The grappling hook shot out again, but the blonde climbed onto a window ledge at the last minute, but kept going with her momentum so as not to be caught again. She looked down and saw Selina was exacting her revenge on the men, and Harley cringed, it was not a pretty sight and Selina was on her side.

A bullet exploded at Harley's feet, and she jumped back, tracing its path back to a clown masked man. Her eyes narrowed, and she ran toward him, wanting to make him suffer for stalking her. He jumped when he saw her following, and ran, but Harley was on his tail. He fell, but got back on his feet, in a puddle, which Harley ignored and landed on it, sending the dirty water flying in a circle around her. They where near some sort of factory, and its fumes cast a pungent odor over everything. The henchman disappeared into a thick shroud of fog and smoke, and despite every fiber in her being screaming at her to not follow any further, she did. She was caught in a spell, and wanted to discover what was in that fog.

All around her she saw the white smoke, and heard something scuttle. There were more puddles her, and she splashed lightly through them, jogging briskly. A pipe banged loudly far away, its echo sent a chill down her spine. Her feet crunched over broken class, and it was stained rusty red, and Harley was reminded of blood. All she could hear was her own breath, coming in slow, as if she was trying to calm herself. 'Where did he go?' She squinted, and saw a figure through the smoke, but it was distorted. Then she heard it.

It was a low giggle, almost inaudible. It slowly began to pick up in volume, and it froze her advance. The laugh shook her to her very core, and she felt herself falling apart, bit by bit as the laugh became louder and louder, until it was thundering around each and every corner of the factory yard. She wanted to press her hands to her ears and scream, but her muscles were frozen, yet they burned with electricity. The figure raised its hand, and Harley opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm not afraid of you."

And she was out.

* * *

><p>Bruer paced about, a green skinned woman was sitting, handcuffed, on the steps next to him. He had never been more worried in his life, where was Harley? He looked up once again, expecting to see the quiet girl with haunted eyes look up back at him and smile meekly, apologize for her absence, and insist their after party continue. But she was still gone.<p>

"This is what I get for trying to help." Ivy grumbled once more. When she saw the police, she thought they could use her information. They gladly listened to her, then promptly handcuffed her and drug her back to the hotel. There was a squad of police men using the hotel as their base, and were furiously talking on their CB radio about the situation.

"_Batman sighting near Crescent street." _A female voice droned through the radio. Any neighborhood watch weird-o would be going banana's over tonight's situation, a horde of camera's and reporters were at the feet of the steps, repelled only by a line of yellow police tape.

"I should have made her stay home." Bruer sighed for the thousandth time, running his hands through his thin hair. Ivy glowered at him, secretly agreeing.

"_Catwoman sighting near the abandoned factory." _The same female voice droned. Ivy perked up at this statement, there was only one abandoned factory that would be worth noticing, the one the Joker frequently made his home and base at.

"You guys should check that out." Ivy spoke up. She noticed a few camera's had turned to her and she glared at the boxes.

"You must have known Ems really well?" Bruer tried to calm himself, talking to the eco-terrorist.

"I knew Harley Quinn. This 'Ems' is nothing like my friend." Ivy replied politely, but still scathingly. This man was the genius that decided to bring back the unstable Harley to Gotham where the catalyst for her insanity resided.

"How so?" Bruer asked.

"For one, Harley would have gone running back into the arms of the Joker the second she set foot in the city. This Ems is fighting against him, which is impressive." Ivy elaborated.

"Hey, Bruer, shouldn't you come back inside, whoa! Isn't that girl Poison Ivy?" Gabe gawked at Ivy as if she were a famous celebrity.

"I'm waiting for Ems to come back." Bruer said kindly, Gabe nodded, worry flashed across his features for his friend. They all thought she had been kidnapped by the Joker. He had bust inside their party so quickly and left quickly as well. Gabe left and retreated back into the hotel lobby, the rest of the troupe watching the news hoping for a miracle.

"I hope it's Ems that comes back too." Ivy muttered cryptically.

* * *

><p><em>"Harleen Quinzel, spit that out right this instant!" Her mother flew down upon the toddler, who spat out the cheerio she had found lying on the ground.<em>

_"Why mama?"_ _Harley whined, seeing nothing wrong, it was only a piece of cereal._

_"There are germs on it, never eat anything you find on the floor." Her mother said sternly, and the little girl nodded, pouting that she had done something wrong. Stupid rules, she thought. Why must everything be so orderly? She crossed her arms, glaring at her toys that had done nothing to her. _

Harley groaned in her sleep, rolling over slightly, her face was resting on a cold factory floor. Her side was stiff as she had been still for so long in her induced slumber. There was a welt forming on her forehead where something had hit her, and her concussion from earlier was still acting like a bitch. Her legs were sore as well, her hands had been tied with rope at her wrists, and it was cutting into her flesh. Her hair, now a messy blonde mane, was sprawled around her like a halo. Her lip was still busted open from where she bit it hardly, and the fake blood had dried to a crust on her shirt.

Her eyes opened slowly and adjusted to the dim light quickly, she heard the steady drip of water somewhere close. She sat up slowly, and winced in pain as the ropes dug further into her arms. She scanned the darkness, and saw a wall a ways away, lit dimly by a safety light, a door looked back at her. She strained her ears, and herd nothing, and began to move as if she were about to stand, and something jolted through her. Some one had tasered her!

Harley fell to the ground convulsion, paralyzed momentarily. She cried out in pain and looked between her messy locks at her attacker. It was another man in a mask! When was the Joker going to make his appearance already, or was he content with keeping her on a paranoid edge? The henchman raised the taser again to strike.

"Fuck you!" Harley spat between her ragged breaths.

"Now, now, Harl', don't go throwing yourself at every man dressed as a clown." A familiar voice said, and the blood in Harley's veins froze. Footsteps made their way toward the girl, a form materialized through the shadows one by one. She remained silent, her fear and shock slipped through her face. He hadn't changed much, in fact, not at all. His makeup to hide his face was smeared her and there, he ran his gloved hands through his hair which had been messy but he tucked it back into place. She used to melt when he did that. "Do you know how much trouble I had to go through, just to talk to you? Is that so hard to ask? Just a little chat?" He sighed dramatically. Harley was still silent, and this seemed to displease him. This new Harley, he didn't like at all. His Harley, although annoying at times, would shower him with affection and attention. This Harley was just staring at him like a scared deer. He smiled widely at this thought.

"H-H-how long did you know that I was here?" Harley spoke.

"The moment you stepped foot in the city! I always loved the theatre. Imagine, I was just sitting around, trying to come up with my next plan, lying low. When, one of my henchmen starts talking about some sort of new play that was coming to town, and the nut showed me a picture of the cast they published in the newspaper. I saw this picture, and then I saw _you_. There was no mistaking it, I'd recognized your face anywhere. It nearly killed me it did, I laughed so hard!" He ranted, giggling at the end of the memory. "I thought, you must have come back from the dead! Why else wouldn't you come back for me like you always had, right?" He beamed. His eyes glinted, and Harley knew that if she said the wrong answer or something that he didn't want to hear, she's be in for it.

"They sent me to an asylum in a different city." She spoke softly. The Joker frowned, almost pouting. Harley sat back up, uncomfortable with having them looming over her. She wouldn't let him take her dignity.

"Was Dr. Maddox a good little healer? Teach you to fear me?" He smiled at her. "What other explanation would there be, I waited and waited in Arkham, knowing that my little Harl' would come storming in. I asked, and they said you died. I was so sad, so sad." He tsked, shaking his head.

"I'm not afraid of you." Harley whispered, looking at her lap.

"What was that?" The Joker asked, a little laugh escaped his lips, a mad glint in his eye.

"I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!" Harley bellowed, standing on her feet and looking him in his crazed eyes. "My name is Ems, and they were right. Harley Quinn is dead. She's dead and rotting below the earth." Harley spat at him, anger flooded into her senses, a blind rage built up against him for breaking her so long ago. The Joker just looked back at her with his poker face, but his painted smile made it look as if he was beaming at her. He struck her and she was sent crashing back to the ground. The henchmen shuffled uneasily at the scene, feeling as if he were intruding on something private.

"Ah, how I've missed this." The Joker giggled.

"Did you hurt...any...of my friends?" Harley wheezed out.

"Ya know, there was one I felt like tearing apart. A dim witted boy, you kissed in your little play. By the way, bravo, I saw it today." He smiled. "But then I noticed you weren't there at that little party." Harley felt just a little bit better that her friends were unharmed and safe. The Joker noticed this release of worry in her face and a smile slowly stretched over his mutilated face.

"Don't hurt them, they didn't do anything to you! If you touch them, I'll fucking kill you!" Harley roared. The Joker was taken back by this and hit her again. She had obviously lost some of her manners while she was in her loony bin. Harley held back tears as a few new bruises formed on her face. "Is that all ya got?" Harley laughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The Joker couldn't believe this, he was enraged, he was shocked. His Harley had been submissive, bending to his every whim. Whenever he harmed her, she would automatically apologize to him and grovel at his feet. He looked in disgust at this...this..body snatcher! The new Harley was smirking at him, daring him to keep hitting her.

"Uh, boss, she's just a girl-" The Henchman spoke up.

"You tasered her and now your having qualms about hurting her?" The Joker rounded on the henchman. He quickly shook his head no and started to come up with an excuse, but the Joker yelled at him to leave, and the henchman hightailed it out of there. Harley's eyes followed him as the door swung shut behind him.

Her head was wrenched back to look at the Joker, his face was closer to her than she thought, and she tried not to recoil, to show any sign of fear that was currently over taking her. His dark eyes were searching hers and he frowned at what he found. A knife was held against her mouth, and if the Joker were to jerk his arm up, it would send the knife tearing against the corner of her lips. She glared back and him and he smiled widely. He paused, looking away briefly.

"Do you remember how I got these scars?" He quipped. Harley blinked at him, dumbfounded.

"You never clarified. You told me multiple stories." Harley threw back, still hostile. He seemed pleased by her answer.

"I could hardly function without ya Harl', it took all of my willpower not to snatch you right up and out of your bed that first night. I knew something was wrong with you though, they really did scramble your brains up, huh?" He whispered to her softly.

"You scrambled my brains up. I never really was insane. I faked it." She replied in a equal whisper, the knife pressed lightly against her lips as her mouth moved. "I faked it to please you." She added. The Joker shook his head, and something lurched within Harley then. The pull began to surface, and it wanted to throw itself against the Joker and shower him with kisses and affection, to beg him to take her back, to call him Puddin' again and to be his Harl'.

"Don't worry, I''ll put ya right back to normal." He breathed and Harley was about to say that she already was, but if she were to speak, the pull would take over and throw her into a regrettable decision that would leave her in shambles once more. The Joker crushed his lips against hers and Harley was taken back. It would have been _highly _unwise to pull away, and Harley found that she wanted to kiss him. She closed her eyes, it had been four years with out any physical contact, other than from Gabe and that kiss was forced. The knife was still pressed against her mouth at first, tugging painfully but was withdrawn. Harley Quinn began to swim to the forefront of her mind, hoping to kick out this 'Ems' and seize control once more. The image of Dr. Maddox's disappointed face flashed through her mind, and she thought of her friends. A tear slid down her face.

"Can ya cut these ropes? They're killin' me, Mistah J." She murmured when he pulled away. He broke out in another smile, and a pleased look settled in his eyes. The knife cut through the tightly bound ropes like butter, and her arms seemed to let out a grateful sigh, cuts and welts rubbed into her skin here and there, her hands still angry and red, raw. She could feel his eyes watching her, as he was still in close proximity. One part of Harley was picturing grabbing The Joker and embracing him in a deep and affectionate kiss, and another was begging to kick him as hard as she could and make a dash for the door, going out in a blaze of glory. As Harley contemplated her choices, she closed her eyes and put her hands at her sides.

She opened them, locking eyes with the Joker and she smiled, leaning closer to him. He drew himself toward her, and their lips were mere centimeters apart when Harley breathed, "Fuck you."

She kicked him as hard as she could, throwing him off of her. She was by the door in a flash, she might as well have teleported, and she could hear him laughing his insane laugh. Not looking back, Harley threw the door open and threw herself down the hall way.

* * *

><p>my-oh-my<p>

i wanted to update on christams, but i got busy and did not anticipate this chapter to get as long as it did :o

did i get the joker right, it was my first time writing him and im kinda worried i messed up...batman appeared, then awkwardly left answers on that in the next chapter x3


	5. Chapter 5

**Diamonds and Spades**

**by lolasbunnyroo**

** Five**

* * *

><p>A jet of steam ushered out of a near by pipe, almost blinding Harley. She held her hand up to her mouth as she jogged down the walkway, her shoes echoed against the iron floor. It was strangely quiet again, and it made the hairs on the back of her head stand up. A bat connected with the rail next to her, and a man in a clown mask leered at her. Harley dodged his second blow, and more and more henchmen were materializing from the steam that was making Harley's eyes water. She managed to knock one of their knees and jumped over him, throwing her self down the walk way. She ran down a short flight of stairs, taking them two at a time and almost falling as she did so.<p>

With visibility slowly returning, she looked around, trying to find a door. There was one tucked away by a rusting piece of machinery, and she ran through what looked like an assembly line, using her shoulder to push it open because when she drew closer to it there was no door nob. She entered a small room that was connected to a hall way, and she could hear the chaotic footsteps of the henchmen scrambling around the place, splitting up to find her.

Harley jogged lightly down the hallway that was lit by the moonlight, much more visible here away from the numerous sky scrapers, and she had to squint to see properly. A figure walked out of one of the rooms, and turned to look at her. She couldn't make out who its was, but the person had a female quality to them. After a brief moment, the figure turned and ran the other way.

"Wait!" Harley called after her and chased them for some unknown reason. Light hit the figure and Harley saw a flash of red and black. They entered a large open room, but it was smaller than the one Harley had been imprisoned in earlier. The person was standing stock still against stacked oil drums, then the person stepped forward slowly, shaking lightly with quiet laughter. Harley's eyes widened, as she was looking at herself. Harley Quinn in her red and black jester outfit, face painted black and white.

"No. You're not real." The real Harley backed away as the apparition continued to walk toward her, giggling like a school girl. Harley covered her ears and this seemed hilarious to the fake Harley who started to laugh louder. Harley tripped over her own feet and fell to the hard ground, still backing away from the pursuing leotard wearing Harley Quinn. "Not real. Not real. Not real." Harley whispered to herself, closing her eyes. She felt something beginning to float away, as if she was holding onto a balloon and had lightened her grasp on it. Harley curled up into a ball and felt a different presence standing over her, half of her wished it was some one there to save her, and another half wished it was the Joker.

"Harley?" Selina asked, and relief flooded the blonde as she looked up and got to her feet.

"I thought I saw something. Where's Ivy, and Batman?" Harley asked.

"I don't know where Ivy is, and Batman's busy beating up the Joker. Do you know how stupid it was of you to run off like that?" Selina put her hands on her hips and stared down Harley.

"I know. He got me but I managed to escape." Harley said.

"Yeah, let's keep moving, its two hours till dawn." Selina remarked, her eyes far off. Harley watched her friend with curiosity, but they continued on. The factory was large and sprawled out, and Harley was pretty sure they were lost. They took a few turns in silence, the only noise the sound of their feet knocking against the dirty and dusty floor. Selina threw open a door and they burst out into a familiar yard, and she left out a grateful sigh, they had made it out of the factory. Steam still fogged most of their vision, and Harley was once again on edge.

"Get down!" Harley pulled Catwoman to the ground as a bullet exploded the wall behind them, and another one ricoshayed off the metal door.

"I've had enough of you guys!" Selina yelled, but stayed where she was due to limited vision from the steam. Dark figures swirled around them, and Harley realized they too were handicapped from the steam. She shot her hand up then back down and a bullet nearly took it off. The closest one was debunked to be a few feet to her left.

"What'ya attackin' me for? This broad's gone and kidnapped me!" Harley yelled out in her old voice and the figures froze. She stood up confidently, placing her hands on her hips. In the blink of an eye, she launched her self at one the closest man, her hands wrapping around his gun, twisting it out of his grip. He swung at her with one of his meaty fists, and Harley fired the gun, closing her eyes. The man landed with a thud on the ground, holding a bullet wound on his stomach. The others scrambled, waving their hands about to clear the steam.

"Harley, where did you go?" Selina called out, worried if the bullet had hit her friend.

"Stay put!" Harley called. Her visibility returning from the men's wild arm waving. She saw one and fired, and it hit him in his shoulder, and he cursed. The other one looked around for the blonde, Harley fired again and he fell. She was shooting them in places that weren't that fatal, uncomfortable for some reason taking their lives. Another dark figure appeared, this one stooped and more broad shouldered than the others. The steam began to dissipate, and Harley was frozen standing across from the man. Slowly, the fog thinned out into a mere wisp, and she was once again looking at the Joker.

He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling slowly, his lip was swollen and cut open, his makeup was smeared here and there, his hair messy and encrusted with blood. But above all that scared Harley was the mad glint in his eye, it was pure rage and directed at _her. _He slowly smiled, never loosing the madness in his eyes, before he lunged at her.

His knife cut through the air, slicing a path to her throat. She blocked using the gun, and landed a good hit against his head. Her stomach lurched at this motion, an ancient urge to protect him clawing its way to the surface. The balloon's strings were on the edge of her fingertips now, held on by a light grasp, any tug from the wind and she'd loose it. This violent action, defending herself and fighting back, caused the Joker to roar in anger. He had had _enough _with this impostor Harley. He easily knocked her aside at her hesitation, and grabbed her by her neck. She slowly raised the gun, the barrel rest against his forehead. A smile broke across the Joker's face, delighted at the idea.

"Go ahead and do it." He giggled. There it was, the wind, and the balloon had left her fingertips, and was slipping away, far away into the bright blue sky. Harley lowered the gun, and raised it against her own skull.

"How about this instead? You always wanted me dead." Harley breathed, smiling back. Her palms began to sweat as if she was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at a far away river that was just a tiny blue ribbon. At once, the Joker's smiled was gone, and his face settled into a glare, and he growled at her to do it. She squeezed the trigger, and heard a click.

The Joker roared with anger one more time and threw Harley to the ground, her body landed in a small puddle of water that was tinted with the blood of one of the attackers from earlier. The gun skidded away, and Harley was numb with shock. She had come so close to ending her own life, unsure what had come over her in the small moment of time.

"Harley!" Selina called, and the blonde looked up, staring at her friend in disbelief, as she had forgotten all about her. A dark shadow tackled the Joker, and Batman raised his fists, beating up his eternal foe. The Joker cackled at the reappearance of his friend, and Harley took in the all to familiar situation.

_'Do you believe in ghosts, Harleen?'_

_'No.'_

Harley saw her self looking back in the puddle, the blood swirled and she felt the memory of that night crash around her, almost feeling the raindrops that had battered her broken body in the past. The morning grey began to fill the area, and Harley watched Batman and the Joker engage in combat once more. She couldn't hear anything, her ears filled with silence, and slowly a dull ringing filled her ears.

Looking up, she saw the balloon, now just a small red dot. She pleaded for it to come back, and then, it popped. The string wafted down and landed in her hands, all that was left of her being now.

The memory was demanding to be revealed, and she knew if she were to close her eyes, it'd come back in vivid detail due to this reenactment. Harley heard Selina calling her name, and her friend was shaking her to get up so they could get away. She let out a deep breath, and collapsed.

_She lied._

* * *

><p>sorry for farting around so long to update, and that this was so short :( the next chapter will be the last one, and I wanted a big grand finale :)<p>

thanks to those for reviewing, some of them were really helpful and appreciated lol, and the 'balloon' in her mind was her sanity/therapy not to confuse anyone


	6. Chapter 6

"Now, now, Harl', I'll need you to protect me once ol' Batsy makes his way here, got that?" The Joker smiled down at his jester.

"Sure thing boss!" She beamed back, pecking him once on the cheek as she bounded away. She had been so excited to be included in his plan, nothing would get by her, not even a mouse.

Harley Quinn edged along the walkway that dangled about twenty feet above the hard factory floor. Her favorite pistol grasped in her hands and she looked around through the darkness.

"Come on out and play, Batsy! I know you're here!" She barked. A shadow complied and Harley fell to the ground, the side of her face throbbed painfully. Her gun slid out of her reach and rest on the edge. Harley was supposed to guard Mistah J, who was in the room beyond the walkway. "Hey! You're not supposed to hit girls!" Harley whined, her voice like a high pitched siren. She easily jumped to her feet and engaged Batman in combat. Her speed and flexibility only taking her so far. Thunder boomed from some where far away and the rusty supports creaked ominously. Batman's heavy footsteps weren't helped, the walkway creaked once more, tipping to the sides this way and that. Harley opened her mouth to tell him off, before there was a loud snapping noise.

Harley dove for her gun as the path below her disappeared. Batman used his grappling hook to propel him to safety, his hand reached for Harley who shrunk out of his reach. The metal crashed to the ground and a loud bang slapped through the silent factory. Pain rocked through Harley and she shrieked and howled, holding the bullet wound shattered through her stomach. Batman watched her, torn between wanting to help her and wanting to catch the Joker and end his latest scheme. Harley streamed out a river of creative curse words towards the Bat, and slunk away like a wounded puppy. No way would she let the Joker see her like this! She'd go patch herself up real quick and return to defend her lover. Yep! That's a plan.

Disoriented and fighting back the pain, she threw open the door she thought that was connected to her makeshift nurse's office, instead she stumbled out into the rain, falling over her own feet and crashing to the ground. She crawled through the dirt and mud, her leotard becoming ripped and stained with the earth from her violent attempt to get away. But from what? Finally, she gave up, resting in a shallow pool of rainwater. The rain was pounding against her skin, and she began to shiver, locks of her blonde hair fell down, framing her face in thick cords. She began to cry, something she hadn't done in a while.

The puddle became deeper as she just sat there, hunched over and numb, unsure if hours or a few minutes had passed. The water gradually ran dark red, but Harley no longer felt the pain from her wound. Her reflection looked back through the clouded water, and she was spooked by her own crazed expression.

Lights were shown in her face, and for a second Harley was sure she had died and gone to heaven. If so, the guy at the gate must have been on brake, because she knew there was no way she'd be let in. But the sharp voices of police officers brought her back down to earth, and her eyes dilated, trying to hide from their bright lights.

"Please...don't take me there, to him." She muttered, but was being pulled into the back of an ambulance, others shouts drowned her out as medics rushed around her, and the blare of a siren hurt her ears. She wanted to cry, to kick and scream for everyone to shut up and listen to her. A needle was stabbed into her right arm, and she whispered, 'No', but no one payed her any attention.

She woke up here and there, unsure which was was up or down, and she found the strength to kick and scream, but before she could get her demands out, someone would put her back under. The next time she woke up, her arms were bound in a self hug and she was in a very dark padded cell, looking up into the face of a middle aged woman.

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><p><strong>Diamonds and Spades<strong>

**by lolasbunnyroo**

**Six**

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><p>"Harley!" Selina shook her friend who had passed put, her head rolled on her shoulders sickeningly. Knowing her friend wasn't about to get up any time soon. She looked up, the two mortal enemies, the Bat and the Clown, were going at it again. Selina hauled the unconscious Harley to her feet, surprised at how heavy she was, and slung Harley over her back. She darted to a fire escape and ran up it with only the grace Catwoman would have.<p>

Harley's head bounced against Selina's back, her eyes twitched slightly in her sleep. Selina gritted her teeth as she jumped the gap between two buildings, her knees buckling under Harley's dead weight. Satisfied that she was a safe distance away, she safely put Harley back down next to a large ventilation shaft. She pulled her hand back and contemplated for a moment, then brought her hand down. An angry red hand print blossomed out across Harley's cheek, but she stayed unconscious.

Catwoman ducked just in time as a bullet cracked into the side of the ventilation shaft, and she turned around to see several surviving henchmen aiming at her.

"Fine! You can suffer!" Selina growled, glad someone had arrived for her to vent.

_She drifted along the plane of existing, and could hear a faint noise that blurred together in an angry buzz. She wondered if this was the place nightmares awaited, ready to strike on command and terrify a three year old. Surely the night terrors were some were much more unpleasant. She crossed her ankles and entwined her hands as if she were lounging on a hammock, humming peacefully to herself. Harley drifted along and felt object bump against her._

_A thin white line appeared above, was it the sky? She shrugged and focused on the white line as it slowly spread open, and she got the impression there were claws ripping at her universe. The sky was in tatters, showing a white expanse of nothing. She sat up and shielded her face from the glaring difference, before she was throwing toward it._

_"...My name is Dr. Maddox. I'll be your psychologist. I hear you were once the brightest psychology student in Gotham." A woman was smiling at Harley, who felt lost. How did she get into this cell? It was much more clean than any at Arkham, and the hole in her chest was gone. The woman left after a few more words, and she was alone in the cell. What had she said while she had been under to warrant her a sentence in a foreign hospital? _

_Once again ripped from the place, she was flying forward past voices and places, and it dawned on Harley that she was reliving her memories. _

_"I'm here," she said, looking down standing still and silent, her lips unable to move, "but I'm also there." She reached out and touched a blond woman sitting in front of a large row of windows next to Dr. Maddox reading newspapers about her own death. _

_"Who are you?" Dr. Maddox asked._

_"I'm Harleen Quinzel." _

_"No, you're not. Who are you?" _

_"How can you just expect a person to stop existing? To loose their identity and become the complete opposite?" Harley screamed at the memory of Dr. Maddox, but they did not hear._

_"I was told once, that you define who you are." Harley started, looking into her lap._

_"That's true. If you're having a hard time at this, we can discuss something else." Dr. Maddox asked and Harley nodded. The real one left the place behind as memories began to bleed together, a year and a half in the psyche ward, her first meeting with Bruer, auditioning for a minor role to help pay her rent, Ems hated having to depend on the government. Everything rushed forward, and voices blurred together, a few phrases standing out here and there, and a few times she caught the roar of applause she had come to love._

_At once, everything stood still, and Harley was sure the whole world was silent as one. Outside a dusty window, snow was falling in large cotton swabs. A girl around twenty-eight was sitting at her kitchen table, a lone candle was lit, a plate of cold turkey dinner sat before her. It was Christmas, and Harley Quinn was all alone. Sure, she had gone to her company's Christmas party, but as the date grew closer, all of her friends went to visit their families. Ems had no family. _

_The real Harley moved around the table to sit next to her memory who played with a pile of mashed potatoes, her hands trembling and biting her lower lip to prevent from crying. Loneliness didn't suite Ems or Harley. She got up and dumped the food in the trash, her cat watched her from it's perch atop the fridge, his tail swished about. Harley watched as her memory self got out a pack of cards, the Jokers removed of course, and set about to create the game for Solitaire. She didn't have a computer to fart around on, even though she dropped hints to others that was her ideal Christmas present._

_Several games later, Harley raised her hand and smacked the cards away. The thin paper cards drifted along the air, a few went right through the real Harley. The memory version reached down to pick them back up after huffing, she counted them and realized two were missing. A crawled around the kitchen searching for them, her hands pulled out two cards from under her dishwasher. One was the Five of Diamonds, and the second of was Ace of Spades. _

_Harley wasn't sure why her brain chose to revisit this vague memory, she didn't have long to contemplate before she was once again pushed forward. There wasn't much to see during her last trip, but Dr. Maddox's words 'who are you', started to follow her as she began to climb closer and closer to consciousness. She felt as if something was missing, but she so desperately wanted to outrun the words._

_'Who are you, who are you, who are you.' The voice began to come closer and a scream built itself up in her throat, and she began to run. Only when she reached the end did she notice it was her voice that was talking, not Dr. Maddox. She let out a scream as she felt a hand close around her ankle, and Harley was dragged down deeper into the dark._

Selina pondered if the Joker bothered checking if his henchmen could aim before he hired them. The answer was an obvious no, since she had easily decked them. It was the early morning now, probably around six. She bent down and hauled Harley up and on her back once more, ready to begin fleeing. The hall were Harley had performed wasn't far off, infact it was probably only a few streets away. Ready to end this hectic night, she set out. It was calm, the city unusually quiet.

Catwoman strained her ears, and heard not even a car alarm or a horn blaring from morning rush hour. She even did not hear a dog'd bark. The only sound she heard was her own breath, detached and observing all in case of an ambush. She landed in front of the hotel, few police were there and Bruer stood resolute on the steps. His eyes widened, worry painted all over his face vanished, only to reappear at Harley's unconscious state.

Selina said nothing as she laid her friend down on the steps, and heard the police rush toward her. In the deafening blanket of the silence, she was gone.

"Ems? Ems? Can you hear me? Harley?" Bruer shook the blonde, and the roar of an ambulance pierced the stillness, people looked outside with wide blinking eyes wondering what could have interrupted their sweet spell.

_"Hello, Ems." A black and red leotard sporting Harley Quinn smiled at the real one standing across from her. She sneered the name Ems, laughing._

_"What do you want?" The real Harley asked._

_"Who are you?" Dr. Maddox's voice echoed as her response._

_"This is it, Ems. Choose now. Harley Quinn, or your new life?" She asked. The real Harley narrowed her eyes. The red on her old leotard reminded her of the Five of Diamonds card. She knew diamonds were invincible, the hardest of all stones, conceived from coal to be something pure coming from something dirty. But, Harley had also found the Ace of Spades._

_She cocked her head to the side, and her reflection mocked her in copying her, a smile never left her black painted lips. The Ace of Spades was the death card, trumping over all in victory. It made sense then, that she had chosen those colors long ago, later to reflect in the two cards she had tossed away while bored. _

_"Well? I ain't got all day?" Harley Quinn whined. Hate spiked inside the real Harley. She had had enough. She just wanted to go home and curl up under her blankets and rest. It was usually those who didn't want attention that received the full front of it. She strode forward, and grabbed her jester sporting self._

_"All you ever did was play dress up, to please the Joker. Well you know what? I don't want to play anymore. I've made my own decision, my own Ace of Spades." Harley spat, and began tearing down her reflection. She put up little fight, mainly in screaming and howling as she was torn to pieces. In the stillness of her act that followed, a red balloon drifted down from the sky, weighed down by a smooth stone. Harley reached out, and entangled her hand in it's string._

Ivy sat in the holding cell at the police station, largely ignored as most of the department was focused on other matters. She was infuriated, lending her help to the police to for her friend and only to be arrested on the spot. Her foot jiggled as she crossed her arms, glaring out of the bars. At least she had been given a private cell, eyeing those milling about in the larger one next to hers.

"Time to go to Arkham, ma'am." A police officer appeared, jingling a large key chain.

"Yeah, I know the drill." Ivy muttered, first thing she was going to demand on her return to the hospital was a phone call to her lawyer. Outside it was mid-afternoon, a few reporters were wrapping up the story from last night that had put Ivy's friend in danger. She hoped that the police had managed to cover up who Ems really was and kept her identity a secrete. Climbing into the back of the police car as a female police officer got in, Ivy glared out of the window as the car began to move, and she noticed quickly that she wasn't taking the normal way toward the asylum. "Hey, you're going the wrong way." She spoke up.

"My own special short cut." The woman smiled and turned around.

"Selina?" Ivy gasped.

"Couldn't let you rot in Arkham for doing nothing." Catwoman smiled.

"Hurry up and uncuff me! Is Harley okay?" She asked and Selina unlocked her friend from its holdings.

"Yes, she's at the hospital, not Arkham, a regular one." Selina said and turned back around, taking a sharp turn into an alley way. Sure that they weren't being watched, the two got out and Selina stuffed the cop's uniform into a dumpster.

"Do you think she's normal?" Ivy asked as she put on civilian close to hide better in the crowd.

"We'll find out tonight, won't we?" Selina murmured as she stared up at the sky.

_Line Break_

"You're awake." A voice sighed. Harley looked up to see Dr. Maddox. Time was beginning to show on her doctor's face, lines etched her and there in her familiar face.

"Where am I?" Harley asked, her voice surprisingly hoarse.

"The hospital, you're still in Gotham. The doctors didn't want to move you until you woke up. You passed out from exhaustion." She smiled. There was a silence that followed, and tears welled up in Harley's eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Ems." Tears spilled over then, and Dr. Maddox turned away and let Harley cry in peace.

"What, what happened, to him-?" Harley asked after her emotional display.

"He escaped." Dr. Maddox stated simply. Harley had to suppress another urge to cry, not because she was glad that the Joker had gotten away to safety, but because he had, and something told her he'd be back for her. He hadn't succeed in his plan, this time she had gotten away whole and one, he hadn't broken her, and she knew all to well how the Joker treated those he could not brake.

"Where's the rest of the company?" Harley asked, clearing her throat from the lump that had lodged itself there.

"They already left, Bruer wanted to stay, but some of the others threatened to quit." Dr. Maddox said, an odd look settled over her eyes. Harley wondered how heated her doctor had argued against Violet.

"It's fine, I understand." Harley said, thankful at least someone had stuck by her side through this entire ordeal.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow morning, is there any show you'd like to watch?" Dr. Maddox asked, picking up the remote.

"Yeah, my soaps." Harley grumbled. An hour later she was alone in her hospital room, Dr. Maddox had left to speak to the head doctor about Harley's transportation. Since she had been unable to watch TV in the past week, she was a little lost on the continuity of her favorite shows but was starting to pick up. She sat cross legged on her seat leaning on one hand perched up by her elbow, focusing intently on the television and the ridiculous plots to keep her mind off of what had transpired the past night.

A nurse wheeled in a bunch of get-well-soon flowers and cards that had been held at the front desk. Some were from complete strangers that had been following her kidnapping story on the news, and a few were from her friends at the company. She smiled as she saw one was from Gabe, who spelled a few words wrong. She picked up one card and opened it. A heart was drawn inside it, a rather lumpy heart, with a knife jabbed inside. Instead of a signature, a Joker card was taped inside.

Something lurched in her gut and Harley sighed. She wanted to throw the card away, but it was rare that she saw any sentimental token from him. With a small smile she tucked the card away in her pocket.

"I'm not afraid of you any more." Harley murmured as she set to playing with a pot of flowers at her side. If she ever faced him again, she had had the ace of spades on her side. She just wished she had known sooner.

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><p>i was so glad to finally include the reason for the story's title, oh lawdy lawd<p>

my goal was to have 4,000 words of more for the last chapter and make it really long buuut not all of us are perfect, and it would have taken me at least another week of writing to make it longer (its around 3,500) i also wanted to include more a fight sequence, but im not that good at writing them and i liked the scene of a 'silent city' in my head more, i might come back and make the ending longer later, but i feel as if i have delayed it long enough

im not sure if there will be a sequel, as i feel i havent answered everything, and there is a promising continuing plot in there :|

review nows maybe please? i get alot of hits and favorites but not alot of reviews...


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